Developers

Since introducing iPhone OS 4 beta, Apple has kept a rigorous every-2-weeks-on-the-Tuesday update schedule through beta 4... until yesterday. Yesterday, the next Tuesday in line for beta, came and went with nary a beta 5 in sight.

Could be late, or it could be with WWDC 2010 less than a week away Apple is holding off to release the iPhone OS 4 GM (gold master) seed at the show? (Like they did last year for iPhone 3.0).

Marco Arment raised a flag on the iPad App Store field today and called foul over Apple using private APIs in their first-party iBooks app.

It's no secret that Apple loves secrecy, so it comes as little surprise when Business Week reveals the hoops those lucky developers with early access to iPad hardware have to jump through:

Would-be testers of the tablet-style computer, due to be released Apr. 3, must promise to keep it isolated in a room with blacked-out windows, according to four people familiar with the more than 10-page pact that bars partners from disclosing information about the iPad.

TechCrunch is reporting that Apple has started sending developers invitations to take a satisfaction survey with regards to the App Store in general, and the App Store approval process in specific.

Apple asks you to answer with: “Very dissatisfied,” “Somewhat dissatisfied,” “Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied,” “Somewhat satisfied,” “Very satisfied,” or “Don’t know.”

They also ask, “What one thing could Apple do to make the iPhone Developer Program better?” and give you a text box to write anything you want. A few months ago they certainly would have gotten some interesting responses there.